Effects of Prohibition
Initially, it appeared that Prohibition was effective, by
1920 there were few arrests for public intoxication
and the rate of alcohol consumption was about a third
of what it had been before. However, it wasn't long
before it became clear that those who wanted to
consume alcohol would devise ways to do so.
Gangsters like Al Capone of Chicago took over the
illegal activity of selling liquor. Speakeasies (secret
bars) popped up all over the country-by 1933 there
were more than 200,000 speakeasies throughout the
United States. By the late 1920s, alcohol consumption
had increased to about two-thirds of its pre-
Prohibition rate. Congress did not foresee problems
with enforcement of the law and did not provide
nough money for agents,
What are speakeasies?